Australian Species

I’ve taken a different approach for my Australian list. Australia is a very large place with many diverse climates and habitats so it is not surprising that Theischninger/Hawking lists 324 species in total. Since we are not making regular trips to such a distant land and have looked for odonata there for just one 2-week period during their early spring, what follows is simply a list of those species we did see in October, 2017.

[1] – Confusion reigns. This species is known as Aeshna brevistyla (Lancer Dragonfly) in New Zealand. The IUCN Red List agrees with Aeshna, stating that Adversaeshna is a sub-genus, though it does mention Adersaeshna as a synonym. Dr. Dennis Paulson, the guardian of the worldwide list of species, also lists both names as synonyms.

[2] – The genus of this species causes much debate, or it did when I posted one on a facebook group. Theischinger/Hawking lists it as Hemianax papuensis and that seems to be the preferred name of Antipodeans. Others prefer Anax papuensis, as does Dr. Dennis Paulson, who maintains the worldwide list of species, who has no reference to any Hemianax whatsoever. Personally, therefore, I prefer to go with his Anax papuensis name.